Missile test is a hit — even at long range

Missile test is a hit — even at long range'Shield' system intercepts a mock target for the first time since 2002

JOSH WHITE, Washington Post

Published 5:30 am, Saturday, September 2, 2006

WASHINGTON — The U.S. military successfully shot down a target missile using its long-range missile defense system Friday, the first time such a test has intercepted a mock enemy warhead since 2002, officials said.

An interceptor missile was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and collided with its target more than 100 miles above the Earth, according to the Missile Defense Agency. The target, launched from Alaska, was the first to provide a trajectory similar to the path a missile fired from North Korea might follow in an attack on West Coast cities.

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Pentagon officials hailed the test as a major step forward for the nation's "shield" against incoming ballistic missiles, saying it vindicates their confidence in the military's ability to thwart an overseas launch of a missile carrying weapons of mass destruction.

Experts cautioned that the test lacked real-world conditions, such as enemy efforts to defeat the missile defense system and an attack involving multiple missiles. They said it does not yet indicate the nation is secure from a missile attack.

Air Force Lt. Gen. Henry "Trey" Obering III, director of the Missile Defense Agency, said Friday that he believes the U.S. would have "a good chance" of shooting down a missile that threatened the United States with a system that "would be very capable" if it had to be used today. He said the U.S. had tried to mimic North Korea's Taepodong 2 missile and intercepted the target even though the goal of the exercise was simply to gather data.

The exercise tested nearly every component of the developing system, from detection and tracking of the incoming missile to its destruction, he said.

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Experts said, however, that the test was not decisive because it was the first time the improved interceptor has been successful. It will take several such results to prove any level of reliability.